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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27564334">wow i love you guys</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oceantail/pseuds/Oceantail'>Oceantail</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Oceantail's Corpse &amp; Sykkuno fics [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Among Us (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(aka the pinnacle of romance), (corpse needs more self-love), (literally just hanging with your friends with some wine cooler nothing bad), Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crushes, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Holding Hands, Homecoming AU, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Requited Love, Self-Esteem Issues, Underage Drinking, and he's sad abt it but all his friends decide to ditch to hang out with him, basically corpse isn't allowed to go to homecoming, its v sweet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:35:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,251</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27564334</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oceantail/pseuds/Oceantail</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He probably should have known his parents wouldn’t have let him go to homecoming. Fuck him for wanting some normal high school memory that he could hold onto when he inevitably got kicked from this school too, right?</p><p>But luckily his friends have other ideas, and maybe this night wasn’t so bad after all. </p><p>(Homecoming au, read the tags for a better summary)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Corpse &amp; all his friends, Corpse Husband &amp; Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF), Corpse Husband/Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Oceantail's Corpse &amp; Sykkuno fics [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2234793</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>686</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Mixed_Fics</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. stars and ceiling fans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>for extra serotonin, check out <a href="https://youtu.be/4nd35-pNOec">this video of corpse saying "wow i love you guys" for 8 minutes straight.</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Well, this weekend was going to be depressing as fuck. Most weekends already were considering he never got to see his friends and he was always confined in his house, but this Friday night was <em>homecoming</em>. Corpse never really put too much weight on events like these, but it was really hard not to get swept up by the excitement of his friends who had been chattering on about it for weeks.</p><p>He probably should have known his parents wouldn’t have let him go. He understood their reasoning well enough. Tickets were absurdly expensive, formal wear was absurdly expensive, both of them were busy that night and couldn’t drive him there… he <em>got </em>it, he really did.</p><p>But fuck him for wanting some normal high school memory that he could hold onto when he inevitably got kicked from this school too, right?</p><p>And spending an hour trying to drown his sorrows in the bathtub while scrolling through the messages his friends sent him trying to keep him updated on what was going on, surprise!, made him feel way more fucking depressed.</p><p>So this was his life. Lying prone on the floor, hair drenched, and smeared eyeliner clinging to his face even after his hour-long pity bath, watching the ceiling fan in his room slowly turn around and around and around and around—</p><p>
  <em>ding! ding!</em>
</p><p>Corpse hand automatically flailed around for his phone and eyepatch.</p><p>After slipping the eyepatch over his right eye, he squinted at the notifications blinking up at him.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p><strong>Sykkuno</strong>: <em>hey corpse </em></p>
  <p><strong>Sykkuno</strong>: <em>you there?</em></p>
</blockquote><p>It took him far longer than it should to type in a 4 digit password, but once he did, he quickly tapped out a reply.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <strong>Corpse: </strong>
    <em>i’m here sykkuno</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>Corpse rested his head back against the floor and counted the ceiling fan rotations until the next response. His house had aggravatingly spotty wi-fi and it always took ages to send messages.</p><p>Ten slow rotations later, his phone lit up again with a <em>ding!</em></p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <strong>Sykkuno: </strong>
    <em>can i call you?</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>Corpse let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, already feeling the prickling pinpricks of anxiety stabbing at his chest at the thought of having a conversation now.</p><p><em>Inhale </em>4 seconds, <em>hold </em>7 seconds, <em>exhale </em>8 seconds. <em>Repeat. </em></p><p><em>Inhale </em>4 seconds, <em>hold </em>7 seconds, <em>exhale </em>8 seconds. <em>Repeat.</em></p><p><em>Inhale </em>4 seconds, <em>hold </em>7 seconds, <em>exhale </em>8 seconds.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <strong>Corpse: </strong>
    <em>i’ll call you</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>He exited out of the messenger app and opened up the phone app.</p><p>Letting out another controlled exhale, he tapped on Sykkuno’s name at the top of his favorites list before he could psyche himself out. <em>Don’t fucking fail me now you shitty cell towers.</em></p><p>“Hey Corpse!” came Sykkuno’s voice through the phone and Corpse could <em>feel </em>his spirits lifting at the sound of his voice.</p><p>“Hello Sykkuno,” he replied, rolling to his side to avoid looking at the ceiling fan, lest he get distracted from the conversation. “How’s it going?” he added, trying to keep his voice from cracking.</p><p>In the background, he could hear loud indistinct voices and chanting in tune with the jaunty pop music blasting from through the speakers.</p><p>Normally the thought of so many people and loud noises in such a crowded area would have made him run for the hills, but now he just felt yet another stab of jealousy and longing in his gut.</p><p>“It’s going great, Corpse! I really—” His voice was drowned out by screams of delight from erupting from the crowd at what Corpse assumed was a song change.</p><p>Corpse pushed wet hair out of his face and sighed, “Sykkuno I can’t hear you, there's a lot of background noise.”</p><p>“Oh! Sorry, one sec.”</p><p>After a few seconds of rustling and movement, Sykkuno spoke into the phone again, this time much clearer. He must have walked outside onto the Quad. “I was saying, um, I really missed you.”</p><p>Corpse felt his face heating up despite the ever-persistent chill in his house and pressed his other hand to his face. “I miss you too Sykkuno,” he said back, trying to keep his voice steady and to not break out into nervous laughter.</p><p>“You could probably sneak over,” Sykkuno offered, laughing a little “I don't think anyone is checking the entrance anymore. The dance really got off the rails.” Then, his laugh became a little nervous. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say, but Dream and his friends snuck alcohol into the dance.”</p><p>Corpse let out a small huff of air. <em>Classic. </em>“I’m sure they just wanted to make it more fun.”</p><p>Sykkuno giggled and Corpse’s heart fluttered at the sound of it. His hand moved to clutch at his chest, gripping onto his cheap white t-shirt like a lifelike. God when did he start becoming helpless at the sound of a <em>laugh. </em></p><p>“What I’m saying is, I’m sure you could just hop the fence.”</p><p>Corpse let out low laugh, “I’m surprised <em>you’re</em> the one talking me into this, I thought Rae or Poki would be the one to try and get me to do it.” </p><p>“Well it <em>was</em> their idea actually, they told me to tell you.”</p><p>Sykkuno sounded so indigent to the idea that Corpse couldn’t help the stream of giggles rushing out.</p><p>“But, Corpse um actually, y-you, um, you said your parents aren’t home right?” Sykkuno asked and Corpse blinked at the abrupt topic.</p><p>“No,” he replied with a tinge of bitterness, “they left a while ago.”</p><p>Another burst of voices made their way through the phone line and Corpse strained to hear Sykkuno’s next words.</p><p>“So, um, I was just thinking… do you think you could walk to the park? The one near our old elementary school?”</p><p>Corpse frowned, mapping out the distance in his head. “Um, that’s like, a forty-five minute walk away.” <em>Fuck</em>, he hated that he lived so far away from the city. Getting anywhere was a goddamn nightmare, especially since his parents never drove him anywhere.</p><p>Sykkuno winced, “Ah sorry, I know it’s kinda far, Corpse but I don’t really want you to miss out and I thought it would be cool if we could hang out tonight there, even if it’s not homecoming.”</p><p>Corpse’s breath caught his his throat. “What?” he asked weakly, voice cracking down the middle. <em>Surely</em>, Sykkuno couldn’t mean what he was saying. He wouldn’t just ditch homecoming to hang out with him? He had been talking about this night for weeks, not really the dancing and dating part of it, but the fun party atmosphere and hanging out with friends part. Corpse was so stunned he almost missed Sykkuno’s next sentence.</p><p>“Again, I know it’s a bit far for you but, uh, if you left now you could get here by 9:00 maybe?”</p><p>Privately, Corpse was only about 30% sure he would be able to even pick himself off the floor right now, but the words were spilling out of his mouth faster than he could think them through. “Wait! Yes! Sykkuno, I-I can be there if you want me to be.”</p><p>“That would be a great Corpse!” Sykkuno replied brightly, “We all missed you here, you know, and you shouldn’t miss out on this night. I’m sorry it’s kinda a long walk.” </p><p>Corpse could <em>sense</em> the question was on the tip of his tongue, but thankfully, Sykkuno didn’t offer to drive to his house and pick him up and he was ever so grateful to avoid that topic of conversation. None of his friends knew where he lived, and he wasn’t ready for them to just yet.</p><p>The lethargy and listlessness that clogged up his mind for hours was slowly clearing and he felt more awake than he had in days. The past week, he’d barely seen any of his friends outside of the one or two classes he had with Dave and Charlie thanks to the slew of lunch detentions he was forced to serve for constantly falling asleep in class.</p><p>God he couldn’t wait to see Sykkuno again.</p><p>~~</p><p>The walk was excruciatingly long and he regretted not bringing a jacket with him. It was still a warm evening in L.A., but the air had a decidedly chilly bite to it tonight and his thin white t-shirt still slightly wet from his bath might not have been the best choice.</p><p>But with every step, he could feel his heart thrumming with nervousness and excited anticipation. Maybe this weekend wouldn’t be so bad after all.</p><p>~~</p><p>“Corpse!”</p><p>Corpse jumped at his name. He was across the street from the park and in the distance, he could see Sykkuno surrounded by a group of people on the top of the grassy hill next to the play structure.</p><p>He almost stopped in his tracks. Sykkuno wasn’t alone? He thought for sure the park would be deserted by now.</p><p>As he crossed the street and headed closer to the hill he gasped in surprise.</p><p>The slight flicker of disappointment that Sykkuno wasn't alone was <em>immediately</em> drowned out by the explosion of warmth in his chest when he recognized all his other friends standing beside him.</p><p>“Corpse you’re here!”</p><p>“Corpse!”</p><p>“We missed you, buddy!”</p><p>“You made it!”</p><p>“Wasn’t the same without you.”</p><p>“Fuck your parents for not letting you come, honestly.”</p><p>“Felix! You can’t say that!”</p><p>Corpse stared at his friends as he made it to the top of the grassy hill, all of them still dressed up in formal wear from the dance, grinning back at him and felt a prickling of tears building up behind his eyes.</p><p>“You all came?” he whispered, “I-I thought it was just Sykkuno?”</p><p>Rae bounded forward and launched herself at him with a cry of delight. Corpse caught her around the middle and she hugged him tight, burying her face into his shirt. “Of course we came! We’re so glad you’re here, Corpse!”</p><p>Running his fingers through her long hair on autopilot, he wondered if she had drunk some of Dream’s smuggled alcohol; she normally wasn’t this open with her affection.</p><p>Lily smiled at him, “Sykkuno tracked us all down in record time after he called you <em>and</em> we managed to gather up some stuff for our own little party.” She waved a hand at an enormous blanket with a few pillows and smaller blankets already spread out on the grassy clearing a little ways off.</p><p>Then, she glanced back and noticed his scrunched up and slightly blotchy face, “Wait, are you okay?!”</p><p>“Um, I—” Corpse managed. His throat was closing up on him again, constricted with emotion as his friends all made their way over them with their own questions of concern. “I- I j-jus I can’t believe you guys set this up, I- thank you guys so much I- know you all were excited for Homecoming and …” his voice trailed off and he cleared his throat, almost gagging on his spit. "Wow I love you guys" he choked out.</p><p>Toast grinned at him reassuringly, clapping him on the shoulder as Rae managed to extract herself and her hair from Corpse’s arms, “Homecoming was a bust anyway. The only thing good about it was the taco trucks they brought in.”</p><p>“And there was too much, um, y’know,” Sykkuno coughed and flushed a dull pink, a muffled laugh escaping out from behind his hand covering his mouth.</p><p>“Too much <em>grinding</em> for Sykkuno,” Poki teased, punching him in the arm.</p><p>A chorus of laughter rang out around the group and Corpse used the distraction to discreetly wipe away the tears definitely gathering at the corners of his eyes.</p><p>“Besides, we <em>all</em> know who Sykkuno <em>actually </em>wants to be grinding,” Rae giggled swaying where she now stood, clutching onto Poki’s arm to stay upright.</p><p>“RAE!” Sykkuno almost shrieked as everyone dissolved into another fit of laughter.</p><p>Corpse averted his gaze and turned to look at everyone else, “How drunk is she?” he demanded, hoping it was dark enough that his face wasn’t visibly red.</p><p>“Well we’re only starting out, buddy,” Jack grinned at him leading the group over to sit and stretch out over the blanket, “We managed to get some of the wine coolers Dream had in his car on our way out.” He rapped his knuckles on a cheap icebox Corpse just noticed was perched on a nearby rock. </p><p>Poki snorted, “Sapnap charged us $5 a bottle <em>and </em>another $5 to borrow the ice chest. Total rip-off.”</p><p>“Well, it’s not exactly like we could have bought it ourselves,” Jack replied, prying open the top of the icebox as the rest of them started gathering around him.</p><p>Jack tapped Corpse on the shoulder and held up an unopened bottle and wordlessly, Corpse withdrew the bulky swiss army knife from his pocket and passed it over to him.</p><p>With a swift flick of his wrist, Jack popped open the first bottle and handed it off to Felix and Marzia who were already holding hands and cuddling together near the center of the blanket.</p><p>All around him, his friends were starting to lay down on the blanket and on each other, holding each other as a cool breeze blew through the night air. Rae lowered her head onto Poki’s lap, where the other girl gathered loose strands of her hair and separated them into sections to braid together. Lily and Michael were also leaning into each other, Michaels arm around his girlfriend's shoulders as Lily accepted the next opened bottle from Jack. Toast, Dave, and Charlie were gently clinking their own bottles together and conversing in hushed voices so as to not disrupt the peaceful atmosphere settling around the grassy clearing.</p><p>Corpse ran his fingers through his hair and gently bumped his shoulders with Sykkuno, who was pulling bottles from the icebox to hand to Jack.</p><p>“Thank you, Sykkuno,” he murmured, hoping his voice wasn’t too loud. The tranquility of silence was almost intoxicating and he hated to be the one to ruin it.</p><p>Corpse was rewarded with a gentle bumping of their shoulders again and another giggle, “It wasn’t all me, we really missed you all night, you know. I was just the one to get everyone organized.”</p><p>Maybe that was true and maybe it wasn’t, but Corpse couldn’t help the happy, bubbly feeling rising up in his chest at the words. It felt so fucking nice to be loved.</p><p>He accepted the wine cooler Jack was pressing into his hands and smiled, tipping the drink into his mouth and enjoying the bright fruity flavors dancing across his taste buds.</p><p>When he came back up for air, Sykkuno was looking at him softly, with so much affection that Corpse’s heart definitely stuttered in his chest. One of Sykkuno’s hands darted up to cover his smile, but Corpse took the chance and intercepted it midway, gently pulling Sykkuno towards him and twining their fingers together.</p><p>He felt like his heart was about to pound it’s way out of his ribcage, blood roaring in his ears and he waited for Sykkuno’s reaction with bated breath. <em>Fuck he really didn’t want to fuck this up. </em></p><p>There was no backlash. No painful rejection that he feared like he spent hours in the past agonizing over. Just pure affection and joy in Sykkuno’s eyes as they stared at each other, enveloped by the warmth of each other and their friends.</p><p>Jack offered them both a reassuring smile before finally opening his own bottle and reclining onto the blanket, gesturing the two of them to lay down and relax as well.</p><p>With no hesitation, Corpse and Sykkuno followed his example and stretched out next to each other on the blanket, back against the earth and eyes staring up to the heavens.</p><p>It was eerily reminiscent of the very same position Corpse was paralyzed in just an hour ago, laying frozen to the floor of his bedroom staring up at the spinning ceiling fan. But the twinkling stars that dotted the blue-black sky winked down at him like diamonds, and for the third time that evening, he felt tears building up in his eyes and emotion tightening his throat. </p><p>
  <em>Wow, I love you guys. </em>
</p><p>Corpse wasn’t stupid. He knew eventually he would have to walk back home, walk back to dreary endless hours in a cold, dark room doing nothing but staring up at the ceiling fan for hours and hours. Walk back to bare walls and shattered mirrors and forgotten meds and deafening silence only broken by his own manic screaming.</p><p>But <em>right now,</em> he could stare up at the bright stars in the night sky with his friends around him, light whispered conversations filling the tranquil silence, all of them huddling together in the chilly air, warmed by nothing but the light buzz from the overpriced wine cooler and each others’ body heat.</p><p>And fuck, Corpse thought, squeezing Sykkuno’s hand tighter and listening to the faint clinking of wine cooler bottles, he would do everything he could to enjoy it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. phone light and cold air</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>bonus aftermath scene &lt;3</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There are moments where the world feels like it’s frozen. </p><p>There are moments where the world feels like it’s burning. </p><p>Sometimes it feels like that at the exact same time. </p><p>The ceiling fan is still spinning when he come back, the rotating blades sending chilly gusts of air throughout the room. </p><p>Because he used his phone flashlight to find his way back in the dark, the phone is burning hot in his hand, the heat from the screen radiating outward like a miniature sun.</p><p>The floor is drenched in water where he was lying down after his hour-long depression shower. He curses as his sock lands directly into a puddle of cold water. </p><p>His fingers are stiff from the cold air as he presses them against the heat of his phone screen, unlocking his phone and opening their discord server. </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p><strong>Corpse</strong>: back</p>
</blockquote><p>Five fan rotations later his phone flares to life again. </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p><b>Rae</b>: glad you made it back safe!</p>
  <p><b>Poki</b>: ^^</p>
  <p><b>Jack: </b>good to hear buddy!</p>
</blockquote><p>Similar messages flood the #general channel from the rest of his friends and suddenly, he feels the warmth again. The warmth that enveloped him an hour ago when he was with them in person, laughing and holding each other close.</p><p>The cold ceiling fan air couldn’t even touch him now. </p><p>The next message makes the warmth in his chest explode into an inferno. </p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p><b>Sykkuno</b>: thanks for coming out to hang with us! I know it was a long walk but we really loved having you with us &lt;3</p>
</blockquote><p>Corpse heart stuttered in his chest, and he could <em> feel </em> burning heat rise up in his face, pure affection and adoration scrambling to break free. </p><p>And for better or for worse, Corpse can’t make himself move, not even to text back. His gaze is frozen on his phone screen, stunned and maybe a bit awestruck at the love directed his way. </p><p>He doesn't need to text again. His friends know that he saw their messages. Sykkuno knows he saw it. Nothing more needs to be said. </p><p>As drafty air rushes into his room, he knows he doesn't need to be worried about being cold. The cold air that normally chills him to the bone feels powerless against the heat surrounding him as he watches more texts flood into the different channels on the server when his friends fall into other conversations with each other. </p><p>There are moments where the world feels like it’s frozen. </p><p>There are moments where the world feels like it’s burning. </p><p>Sometimes it feels like that at the exact same time. </p><p>And it’s really not that bad. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>commenting is free and easy and it's a great way to show the author that their work is appreciated &lt;3</p><p>also: <a href="https://oceantail-oceantail.tumblr.com/">my tumblr</a> if you want to hmu with fic ideas</p></blockquote></div></div>
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